May 25, 1857.] SPAIN— NEW SURVEYS. 425 



Saragossa and Soria. This chain has a branch which runs westward 

 between the towns of Soria and Logroiio. 



In the early part of this year (1857) the instruments arrived for 

 the definitive measurement of the fundamental base line, which 

 will probably be effected immediately. Of late years, the Corps 

 of Engineers has continued the survey of the fortifications and their 

 environs with great minuteness and precision, whilst the Etat- 

 Major has executed military reconnaissances of the principal lines 

 of communication and of the battle-fields of Spain. The works 

 carried out by the engineers of " Fonts et Chaussees " and other 

 persons concerned in projecting roads, and especially railroads, 

 have produced some interesting geographical details, especially 

 with reference to the inequalities of the surface. 



The commission formed for making the geological map of the 

 Province of Madrid has zealously continued its labours in it and 

 in the surrounding districts. Some of its Members, moreover, 

 have made some interesting reconnaissances and surveys in the 

 mountains of the provinces of Palencia, Santander, and Leon, 

 which will be continued throughout the length of that great 

 mountain range. 



In the course of 1856 our correspondent Colonel Coello published 

 maps of Almeria, Orense, and Ponteviedra, and. the supplements of 

 Leon, Cageres, and Badajoz. The engraving of the maps of other 

 provinces, by the same accomplished geographer, is far advanced, 

 and in 1857 the remaining reconnaissances may, it is hoped, be 

 finished. 



Some memoirs and articles bearing upon the geography of Spain 

 have also been published, both in separate papers and in the 

 scientific journals, the 'Eevista Minera,' the 'Memorial de In- 

 genieros,' &c. 



M. A. de Linera has completed a small work upon the Sierra 

 Nevada. M. Eojas Clemente had, half a century ago, fixed the 

 height of the peak of Mulahacen at 3555 metres, an altitude which 

 has been adopted by the Bureau des Longitudes of Paris. From 

 new measurements it appears that this peak is only 3399 metres 

 high ; and hence the peak of Nethou, in the mountains of Venasque, 

 in the Pyrenees, and near the French frontier (3405 metres), would 

 seem to be the highest point in Spain. 



Between the Pyrenees and the Sierra Nevada there are three 

 other very considerable mountain groups. 1st. The Sierra de los 

 Credos, the highest peak of which, or Plaza de Almanzor, reaches to 

 2630 metres, according to the trigonometrical measurements of M. 



